10 Best 3M Water Softeners And Their Reviews For 2025
We may earn a commission if you click on a link, but at no extra cost to you. Read our disclosure policy for information.
If you are tired of damaged pipes, appliances, and lousy water smell, then 3m water softeners are what you’re looking for.
Are you wondering why your skin and hair are dry after a shower, and your cloth color is changing very fast after washing?
You should know that the problem is in hard water as it contains a large amount of calcium and magnesium and certain other metal cations, hard water is in 85% of U.S. homes.
Hard water can cause less water pressure, lousy tasting beverages, watermarks on your dishes, change in pH balance of your skin, weakening it as a protection from bacteria and infections, and even it can cause eczema.
IN A HURRY? HERE’S OUR FAVORITE PICKS…
Last update on 2025-03-20 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
10 Best 3M Water Softeners Reviewed
To save vast amounts on repairs, skincare products, and pills, I’ve prepared the list of 10 best 3M water softeners with approved quality and highlighted benefits.
I will mainly focus on water softeners and filtrations systems, which you can use for your home so that you can choose the best option just for you.
1. 3M 23184 3MWTS100-01 Water Softener
If you are not using any water softener or filtration system, we would recommend choosing this user-friendly system.
It will be useful if you would like to protect the entire plumbing system and minimize the effects of hard water.
Dishes washed in hard water may dry with spots and a filmy residue, but dishes washed in soft water come out sparkling clean, and soft water requires half as much laundry and dishwashing detergents.
The 3M™ water softener uses variable reserve logic to optimize regeneration cycles by evaluating past use.
This conserves water, salt, and energy, which saves money, the valve allows monitoring and control of every cycle.
3MWTS100-01 is very easy to use, and system design helps to provide long-term operation, the temperature range is 40-100 °F (37.8 °C).
The brine tank has a durable, long-life design, so it delivers excellent performance and provides virtually trouble-free operation.
The system is suitable for homes with up to 3 bathrooms and effectively protects the valve from dirt and debris.
It will save your money by providing less detergent, soap, and shampoo consumption.
It meets salt efficiency standards, and system design provides long term operation, it will save time, money, and energy.
Pros & Benefits:
- Brighter clothing and cleaner dishes
- Valve precision saves energy and water due to fewer regeneration cycles
- Filtered drinking water
2. 3M Aqua-Pure Water Filter System AP-DWS 1000
This system will be useful for under-sink water filtration, water filtration for pets, refrigerator dispenser and ice-making, drinking water, and brushing teeth.
Using AP-DWS1000, you will have good quality water for cooking, and it’s NSF tested with 625 gallon/2,366 liter capacity.
The system should be installed under the kitchen sink and is an excellent choice for water filtration.
It reduces sediment, taste, odor, lead, cysts, mercury, asbestos, chlorine, turbidity, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and methyl tert-butyl (MTBE) that may be in your drinking water.
Advanced dual-stage carbon-block filtration process to help provide more transparent, cleaner, high tasting drinking water.
Cartridge change is quick, easy and sanitary, easy to install with minimal effort, and even automatic shut-off reminds you to replace cartridges.
The system includes everything needed for its installation, including a polished chrome dedicated faucet, quick-connect fittings, an attached mounting bracket, shroud, and tubing.
As well you will have a built-in shut-off valve included that allows changing the sanitary quick-change filters without shutting off the water supply, so you will not make any inconvenience for your family.
Pros & Benefits:
- Makes great water taste
- Good price for good quality
- Perfect flow rate
3. 3M Replacement Cartridge HF 45-S
The system is a built-in inhibitor that reduces the fouling of media.
Excess particulate can cause abrasion and short life on pumps, valves, and chlorine will ruin the taste of your beverage.
3M Cartridge HF45-S removes particulate, chlorine taste, smell and scale, and as well cysts and bacteria.
The integrated membrane combines a membrane with a premium activated carbon block, enabling the cartridge to work for you longer.
FDA CRF-21 compliant materials.
Flow rate (Metric) is 7.9 liters per minute, and the maximum operating temperature is 37.8 degrees celsius or 100 Fahrenheit.
HF45-S you can use for coffee and hot tea, ice machine water filtration.
Your machines will run more efficiently with fewer service calls when the cartridge reduces impurities in your water.
Reducing impurities in your water helps make everything taste and look better, but it can also help keep your machines running more efficiently with fewer service calls.
It removes up to 99.99 % of common water-borne heterotrophic bacteria by membrane filtration.
Pros & Benefits:
- You don’t need a filter wrench to change the cartridge
- Provides good quality water without bad smell
- Prevents harmful effects of scale build-up on equipment
4. 3M Aqua-Pure Whole House Water System AP430SS
Clearer, cleaner, good tasting water is a critical element to your operations and AP430SS it’s not just a filter, it’s a water treatment system!
It uses polyphosphates to prevent scale build-up on boilers, heaters, dishwashers, clothes washers, as well they avoid corrosion as it’s building a thin protective layer on the metal surface.
The 3M aqua-pure whole house water system should be installed on the cold water supply line of the water heater or at point-of-entry of water into the home or light commercial application.
Your water heaters will last longer and will be more efficient, no need to replace them so often!
The system has a pressure range of 25 to 125 PSI, and an operating temperature of 40 to 100 F and installation takes around 30 minutes.
The AP430SS water system will provide you with a flow rate of up to 10 GPM with ¾” NPT inlet/outlet connections.
You can install 304 stainless steel heads on existing copper pipes in the home, and due to corrosion-resistant material, it has a long service life.
Not every water system comes in the same size, and the quantity you get should depend on your home flow rate, but AP430SS is ideal for any size home.
Pros & Benefits:
- Perfect for water heaters and boilers, clothes washers, dishwashing machines
- Easy to replace
- High flow rates
5.
No products found.
Coffee is one of those drinks that many of us can’t do without.
Though hard water can completely ruin the taste, magnesium sticks to eugenol, giving the resulting brew an even woodsier taste.
This cartridge will make your water soft, and your favorite beverage will taste much better.
Water quality and smell are essential for any beverage you make.
Replace the used filter cartridge in your compatible 3M filtration system with this PS 195 cartridge if you need to keep your espresso machine working correctly and long.
It’s so easy to replace cartridges in PS 195 and to have soft, safe to drink water.
Besides you can use PS 195 not only for the coffee machine but also for the steamer, combi oven, and proofer oven water filtration, vending.
This cartridge will remove chlorine taste and smell with premium activated carbon.
Carbon is highly effective due to the vast surface area contained within a small footprint.
It has strong-acid sodium ion-exchange resin, which reduces calcium and magnesium ions, improving its beverage quality for espresso applications.
The flow rate is 3.8.
liter per minute, pressure varies between 25-125 psi or metric will be 172-862 kph.
You will not see any hard scale formation in your equipment anymore.
Pros & Benefits:
- Makes great water taste, which allows you to do consistent, great-tasting espresso
- Sanitary quick-change cartridge reduces the contamination during change-outs
- Improved energy efficiency
6. 3M Cuno CFS215-2 20 5 Micron High Flow Filter
The 3M line of high flow cartridges for large diameter housings is an economical way to help reduce constituents in water that can cause unappealing product and equipment damage.
It has incredible density media for the reduction of sediments and rust from the water supply of food service establishments.
So you should choose it if you are looking for a water softener for commercial eateries.
It is a replacement water filter cartridge for CFS22 and CFS22-1.5.
And the best feature is that it can be used as a retrofit for your existing water system, and these cartridges can be used in the 3M Water Filtration Products.
CFS215-2 will help you to refurbish your water system at a reasonable price and quality.
You will not have to overhaul your current water system as it’s a drop-in type replacement cartridge.
The flow rate is reasonable, and it’s up to 10 gallons per minute.
The disposable filter cartridge must be replaced every 12 months or a noticeable reduction in flow rate.
It uses modified carbon block media to filter away chlorine taste and smell, and the main effect of activated carbon is to improve the water’s taste.
It should be used in all areas regardless of water hardness.
Pros & Benefits:
- Ensures you the best, sediment-free, high-quality water
- High flow, which is ideal for professional kitchen set-ups
- Extra high supply of approximately 45 gallons per minute
7. 3M Aqua-Pure Water Filtration System AP 902
AP902 is manufactured with a head assembly that includes an integral mounting bracket, and satisfied customers highly recommend it.
It’s referred to as point-of-entry systems and should be installed downstream from the water meter or well pump.
The system has Stainless Steel Inlet and outlet plumbing connections.
It includes a non-woven pleat media that reduces sediment down to five-micron nominal, so your water heaters will work longer without damage.
Cartridges are sanitary in design, and you will not need to contact the filter media during replacement.
Up to 20 gallons per minute flow rate is excellent for the water pressure levels of most homes.
The materials of the system are safe to use with drinking water or food.
It has high performing, multitasking filters, which will surprise you with easy installation.
Pros & Benefits:
- Corrosion-resistant
- Has multitasking filters to reduce chlorine taste, odor, sediment as well as scale build-up
- Easy maintenance by simple quarter-turn of the cartridge
8. 3M Aqua-Pure Filter System AP 903
Once you start to use this system, you will not have any chlorine taste or smell.
You can easily install it by yourself, and maintenance can be done in no time.
It’s manufactured from FDA CFR-21 compliant materials, which are food and drinking water safe.
AP903 has a head assembly that includes an integral mounting bracket and stainless steel head on existing copper pipes.
Same as AP 902, AP 903 includes carbon block filtration with a non-woven pleat media to reduce sediment.
You can use this filter as well if you run a food service business as it prevents your equipment from scale build-up.
Stainless steel inlet and outlet connections provide easy installation and high flow rates, which meet the needs of residential and light commercial applications so that you can use them for your office.
Pros & Benefits:
- Corrosion-resistant material
- Good for light commercial applications
- Very comfortable detail is that it has an electronic countdown timer refrigerator magnet
9. 3M Aqua-Pure Filter System AP 904
It reduces sediment build-up, chlorine taste, and odor, scale, which protects water heaters, dishwashers, clothes washers.
Clothes washed in softened cold water come out as clean as clothes washed in hard hot water.
As a result, it saves energy.
The system provides high tasting water from anywhere in your home, so all your family can enjoy high-quality, safe water.
It’s easy to use due to innovative design, carbon block filtration with a non-woven pleat media, and a scale inhibition media.
The replacement cartridge has an activated carbon filter that provides a significant particulate reduction rating of five microns.
A 100,000 gallon capacity at high flow rates of ten gallons per minute and intermittent peak flow rates of twenty gallons per minute.
125 psi is system’s maximum operating pressure, and the maximum operating temperature is 100°F (37.8°C).
It’s perfect for larger homes and is useful for chlorinated or non-chlorinated water systems.
Stainless steel head can be installed on existing copper pipes in your home and comes with 25 years warranty.
AP904 reduces flow rates throughout the home plumbing system by using polyphosphates in minute quantities to bind calcium and magnesium hardness minerals.
Inlet and outlet plumbing connections are 1” NPT, and it helps you to install it more effortlessly.
Pros & Benefits:
- Corrosion-resistant
- Long service with great quality
- Carbon filtration removes most of the harmful minerals and elements
- Large gallon capacity
10. 3M Aqua-Pure Under Sink Full Flow Drinking Water Filter System 3MFF100
It provides ideally treated water, which doesn’t have salts, and it’s the newest member of the 3M™ Aqua-Pure™ filtration family.
You can run many automatic functions thanks to innovative and highly efficient design, advanced triple-stage carbon-block filtration process.
This is to help and provide cleaner, clearer, better-tasting drinking water.
This water softener provides cleaner water by removing all typical hard water-related problems.
This includes particulates, chlorine taste, and smell, lead, parasitic protozoan cysts, and select volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, p-Dichlorobenzene, and toxaphene.
3MFF100 includes a filter-head assembly, filter, and mounting screws.
You will need to use some household tools and additional plumbing to install the system.
It will be a benefit that shuts off in the valve will shut off the water when you change filters.
The system is designed to flow at the rate of your faucet, up to 2.5 gallons per minute, so it will minimize water pressure loss commonly seen using water filters.
The advanced drinking water system has 3/8″ NPT connection fittings, six thousand gallons/22,712 liter capacity – which is three times the capacity of first-generation products.
For full flow filtration, it connects to the primary kitchen or bathroom water faucet, and the sub-micron membrane wraps carbon block to reduce a more significant amount of particulate.
This system provides water filtration on demand for drinking (water, coffee, tea, baby formula).
For cooking purposes, this under sink drinking water filtration system is NSF listed, and 3MFF100 also reduces sediment.
The system’s max operating pressure is 125 psi (862 kPa), and the max operating temperature is 100°F (37.8°C).
The cartridge consists of a pleated sub-micron membrane and an activated carbon block filter.
Pros & Benefits:
- It connects to your current faucet, so it will be easy to install
- Protects kitchen appliances and water supply pipes from damage
- Removes soaping, spotting and other effects of hard water
- The universal system design allows to use on both chlorinated (municipal) and non-chlorinated (well water) systems
Brand Information
In the 21st century, it’s tough to monitor water quality as it contains many chemicals used in commerce and our everyday lives that can make their way into our waters.
Up to 60 % of the human body consists of water, and it’s essential to have clean, drinkable water at home.
Water is not only essential to life, and it directly influences our health and water of poor quality can cause you a lot of problems.
As you can see from the list, water softening can be done by using ion-exchange resins but is increasingly accomplished using nanofiltration or reverse osmosis membranes.
3M is a global innovation company that never stops inventing,
3M is committed to actively contributing to continuous development through environmental protection, social responsibility, and economic progress.
3M water softeners and filtration systems will make your life easier, your skin healthier, and save money in maintenance.
3M offers a range of standard, large diameter plastic and stainless steel housings for whole house water filtration.
3M is a well-known leader infiltration system and can apply its technologies to an endless array of all customer needs.
This brand is resolving water quality issues during the last 50 years, and improvement solutions have required certification.
The company has a network of professionals installing water filtration and treatment systems.
The NSF mark is your assurance that 3M water filter products have been carefully tested by one of the world’s most acknowledged independent certification organizations.
NSF is trusted by consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and regulatory agencies worldwide.
So if you would like to resolve all the harmful influences of hard water, you should have one of the 3M water softeners.
There is a 3M solution that’s ideal for you, whether you need it for cold, brewed, ice and specialty beverages or steamer, oven, and any other food service applications.
It is best to have a trusted, qualified water softener, which is approved by professionals as it will help you overcome any confusion, avoid disappointment, and make your life easier.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many types of 3m water softeners and filtration systems, and they use different technologies to soften the water.
While choosing a water filtration system, you should check if it will be suitable for your home size and you need to know which appliances you will use it.
As well, it’s better to check your water quality first, so you will know which system will work better for you.
You can also find filters specially designed for water with high particulate matter.
With a water softener, you can avoid replacing prematurely ruined water heaters, scaly faucet heads, and cleaning up soapy residue hours and hours.
Investing in a water softener saves you time, energy, money, it protects your home, your property, and most importantly, it helps to avoid different skin issues and diseases.
I hope that I helped you to choose the most suitable water softener for your home or even office and you will be satisfied with your choice.
